The next clear number for the Socceroos?
In Group I of the second round of the AFC World Cup Qualifiers 2026, the Australian national soccer team is as good as through. The Socceroos lead the four-team group with nine points out of a possible nine and 10 goals to 0. They also won the first leg against the Lebanese side 2-0 last Thursday. The betting odds for Lebanon v Australia are therefore that the Australians will also win the second leg.
The problem for the Lebanese is not only the fact that they have only scored one goal in their three group games so far, but also that they have to do without the right to play at home. Due to the tense security situation in neighboring Israel, this second leg will also take place in Australia, where the first leg was played last Thursday. Another aspect that favors a victory for the Socceroos in Lebanon against Australia
The direct comparison between the two teams also shows a difference in class. The Australian national soccer team has won all three of its international matches against Lebanon so far, scoring 8-0 goals and keeping no clean sheets in the process. As the difference was always at least two goals, we think it makes the most sense to place another handicap on the Socceroos. We recommend betting on a -1.
A coherent alternative is to bet at Winamax at odds of 1.56 that the footballers from Down Under will be in the lead at the break, as they were last Thursday in the first leg. Meanwhile, click on the following banner to access an interesting bonus promotion from this bookmaker, Winamax Mission Football:
Lebanon – Statistics & current form
The Lebanese national soccer team is ranked 115th in the FIFA world rankings, behind teams such as Guatemala, Azerbaijan and North Korea. Consequently, the soccer dwarf has not yet appeared too often on the world’s big stages.
The Cedars have never even made it to a World Cup. This January, on the other hand, Lebanon took part in the Asian Championship for only the second time ever. The team coached by Miodrag Radulović finished bottom of their group in the preliminary round with just one point out of a possible nine.
Lebanon faces elimination in the World Cup qualifiers
The Lebanese team are also currently only in third place in Group I of the second round of the AFC World Cup Qualifiers 2026 and would therefore be eliminated after three of six games played. Not only have the Cedars scored just one goal in their three qualifying matches to date, but they have also remained winless.
Two draws against Palestine (0-0) and Bangladesh (1-1) were followed by a 2-0 defeat against the Socceroos in Sydney last Thursday. This means that Lebanon have won just one of their last ten international matches (three draws, six defeats)
Lebanon lack attacking penetration
The odds are still clearly against a win for Miodrag Radulović’s side against Australia, whose players are all unknown quantities. Only the two attackers Omar Chaaban (AFC Wimbledon) and Leonardo Farah Shahin (Falkenbergs FF) have made the leap to Europe. Mind you, to clubs far removed from the top leagues in England and Sweden.
The Cedars’ biggest shortcoming is their lack of offensive penetration. This is evidenced not only by the fact that only one goal was scored in the three matches of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but also by the most recent yield. The Lebanese national soccer team have scored just one goal in their last five international matches, none of which they have won (one draw, four defeats).
Predicted Lebanon line-up:
Matar – Chaitou, Sabra, Shour, Khamis, Nassar – Jradi, Srour, Tneich, Maatouk – Bugiel
Australia – Statistics & current form
The Australian national soccer team bowed out of the 2024 Asian Cup in the quarter-finals against South Korea, who were still coached by Jürgen Klinsmann at the time, losing 2-1 after extra time. Nevertheless, the Socceroos are one of the big figureheads in the AFC.
The four-time Oceania champions made their debut at the 2007 Asian Cup, where they reached the final in both 2011 and 2015. At their second attempt, Australia also won the major title on home soil in 2015. The team from Down Under has also become a regular at World Cups, reaching the round of 16 in Qatar in 2022 after beating Tunisia and Denmark, making them one of the best 16 national teams in the world
Australia know where their opponents’ goal is
The national team coached by Graham Arnold, which is ranked 23rd in the FIFA world rankings, is currently in impressive form. The aforementioned defeat to South Korea in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Asian Cup was their only defeat in their last ten international matches (eight wins, one draw).
The Socceroos have had no problems scoring goals. In all ten international matches, the footballers from Down Under have always scored at least one goal of their own (23 goals in total). The last time Australia failed to score was in a test match against England last October (0:1).
Australia with perfect World Cup qualification so far
The 2-0 win over the Cedars in Sydney last Thursday was also a no-brainer, meaning that the Socceroos’ next win in the second leg between Lebanon and Australia in Canberra is also a very good bet. So far in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers, the Australian team has really done everything with nine points out of a possible nine and a 10-0 scoreline.
It is true that some of the Australian players who have made the leap into the league systems of the top European nations are not playing first-class football with their clubs. However, the quality of the squad is extremely high, especially in relation to the other clubs in the AFC. And two legionnaires from Germany in particular, Connor Metcalfe and Jackson Irvine (both St. Pauli), could be playing in the Bundesliga again in just a few months…
Predicted Australia line-up:
Ryan – Rowles, Burgess, Souttar, Atkinson – McGree, Irvine, Baccus, Metcalfe – Taggart, Yengi
Lebanon – Australia head-to-head / H2H result
Head to head: 0 – 0 – 3
Three international matches have taken place between the two nations so far and in all three cases, the Australian national soccer team beat Lebanon without conceding a goal. After the Socceroos won each of the first two test matches 3-0, the first competitive match ended with a 2-0 victory last Thursday.
Lebanon – Australia betting tip
There is almost no alternative to predicting another victory for the Socceroos in Lebanon v Australia. The Cedars will even have to forgo their supposed home advantage, as this second leg will take place in Australia’s Canberra Stadium and not in Lebanon due to the security situation in neighboring Israel. In view of the performance data presented by both teams and the difference in class in the squad, it can therefore be assumed that there will be another clear victory for the players from Down Under.
The handicap of -1 on the Socceroos provides us with the most value. After all, the Australian team has won all three international matches against the Cedars with a two-goal difference.
For the Socceroos to win with at least a two-goal difference this time as well, we have betting odds of 1.62 on Lebanon v Australia, which we’re playing with six out of ten units at Betano.
